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Thursday, May 14, 2015

KonMari- Paper 2015

Paper... I suspect that most people embarking on KonMari do their clothes and then get stuck. I base this theory on the plethora of youtube videos about KonMari and clothing and lack of videos on the other categories. But maybe it's because paper is kind of boring? When I got to paper, I thought: this is easy! I already have a little file box of important papers, and I'll rip through Komono (miscellaneous) easily.

Um no, the box itself was hard because super important papers were mixed with papers I didn't need. And also, boring. Then I went around the house looking for more in the way Kondo advises for clothing. I had a file cabinet full of a mix of papers and mementos. I had work papers on my desk and under my desk. I had desk supplies that were technically "Komono" but since they were right there I couldn't resist. I reduced as much as could but in the end I got tired.

Note: Don't mix up "papers" and "mementos." This was a little tricky for me, but a lot of the paper I was keeping wasn't for the business of life, but rather a keepsake. Move that to the mementos category.

Papers (plus) on the way out

I didn't organize things exactly the way Kondo recommends, but I tried to employ the spirit with fewer file categories. I might yet switch to her system but for now this is working. My home office is not experiencing the level of zen that my bedroom is experiencing, but there's a huge improvement, and I can easily find everything that's actually important in the one file box. We're getting rid of the empty (very old, broken, and heavy) file cabinet too. And I think James will get the large plastic drawers I used for office supplies for his closet when I redo his room.